Thursday, September 18, 2008

Incarnational Ministry in Taiwan

Phil Nicholson, currently directing a team of missionaries in Taiwan sent me a paper on how they do evangelism in working class communities. What he describeds it as is this;

OMF missionaries use another approach which can be described as "incarnational evangelism". This involves deliberately entering into a community with the aim of building relationships for the sake of the gospel. Rather than seeking to draw individuals immediately into our Christian group, we first enter into their community. The goal is to see the gospel implanted in their community leading to the establishment of a church (i.e. a new Christian community) amongst them.

It's a good model, applicable for the Redfern/Waterloo area in Sydney. We need to go to the people with the gospel, rather than expecting them to come to hear it in church. Where are they? They're on the streets,in the pubs, at the footy and in their homes. They highly value family and their communities to which they belong. We need to be there. We need to take Jesus to them.